102 DANIEL WILSON ON THE AETISTTC 



boats and liouses, by the Indians of Oregon and Britifili Columbia, — the native taste for 

 colour is manifested. Mr. Hugh Martin, in a communication of an early date to the 

 American Philosophical Society, gives an account of the principal dyes emjiloyed by the 

 North American Indians.' The Shawnees obtained a A'egetable red, which they called 

 haii-fa-lhe-cai/gh, from the root of a marsh plant, and largely used it in dying wool, porcu- 

 pine quills, and the white hair of deers' tails. From another root, the Radix flava, 

 a bright yellow was obtained, by mixing which with the red an orange tint is 

 made. But they also extracted a rich orange colour from the Poccon root. A 

 fine vegetable blue is also easily procured, and this was transformed to green by 

 means of a yellow liciuor of the smooth hickory bark. Black, which is much in demand, 

 was obtained both from the sumack and from the bark of the white walnut. All the 

 colours thus far named are vegetable dj-es, but mineral colours are in general use for 

 painting, and especially for personal decoration, which is no doubt the primary idea asso- 

 ciated in the Indian mind with the verb " to paint." The Lenapes, Dr. Brinton remarks, 

 " obtained red, white and blue clays, which were in such extensive demand that the 

 vicinity of those streams in Newcastle County, Delaware, which are now called "White 

 Clay Creek and Red Clay Creek, are widely known to the natives as Walamink, ' the place 

 of paint.'"' The Shawnees applied the name Alamonee-sepee, "Paint Creek," to the 

 stream which falls into the Scioto close to Chilicothe. The word walamen, signifying " to 

 paint," is the Shawnee alamnn, and the Abnaki ivramann, the r being substituted for the I. 

 Roger Williams, describing the New England Indians, speaks of " untnnavi, their red 

 painting, which they most delight in, — both the bark of the pine, as also a red earth." 

 The word is derived from Narr. lounne, Del. loulit, Chip, gioanatseh : " beautiful, handsome, 

 good, pretty," etc. " The Indian who had bedaubed his skin with red ochreous clay, was 

 esteemed in full dress, and delightftil to look upon. Hence the term ivulit, 'fine, pretty,' 

 came to be applied to the paint itself." ^ 



A review of the terms of art in the diverse aboriginal vocabularies would furnish an 

 interesting supplement to the general question of the manifestation of an artistic faculty, 

 and the evidences of appreciation of art among savage races. But it is too comprehensive 

 a theme to be dealt with as the mere supplement to a paper already exceeding reason- 

 able limits. But I note, in closing, a few illustrations, which the languages of some 

 Northern Indian tribes supply, of the ideas associated in the native mind with terms of 

 art. The Algonkin languages generally have no distinctive words clearly discriminating 

 between painting, drawing, and writing in the sense of ideography ; though the inevit- 

 able tendency to invent or appropriate words, as equivalents expressive of any novel 

 object or idea, is in operation in those, as in other languages. The Ojibways have no 

 generic term for painting the body or face, biit express it by some word connected with 

 the specific colour in use. For example, the painting the face black, as is done to a youth 

 on attaining puberty, is mvhkuhdaekmcin.. This consists of mvli-kvli-du, meaning " black," 

 eha, the form which gives it the verbal significance, " he makes himself black," with the 

 termination vnn, constituting the whole a noun. So misquah, " red," is the root of misquah- 

 ne-ga-zoo, " he is painted red ; " mùrjuah-ne-gah-da. " it is painted red." OozaJni-ah, " yellow," 

 gives oo-zah-ive-ne-gah-zoo, " he is painted yellow ; " with the corresponding terminal 



' Trans. Anier. Phil. Soc, iii. 222. ■ The Ix^uape ami their Lpiremts. p. .">.3. 



